I Appreciate You
by csi miami babe
Summary: What was really behind that kiss on the cheek and the "I appreciate you" line Eric told Calleigh? Read and find out. This story is told from a few different POV's. Mild spoilers for the end of season 5. Mild Ryan/Eric slash Chapter 6 and Epilogue now up!
1. Chapter 1

I Appreciate You

I can't believe it. After everything I've done for him he still can't say it. At least not to me. When I heard him tell Calleigh how much he appreciated her it broke my heart. I walked away from the print lab as fast as I could, willing myself not to cry. I ended up in the locker room with Sarah. Sarah Brady is Eric's best friend and has been ever since he started working at the lab.

"Hey Ryan!" she says with her trademark smile. "Hey." I say my voice cracking. "Alright, what's wrong?" I don't know how that woman can tell when something's bothering me, but she's always right. "Nothing's bothering me. I'm fine." She raises her eyebrow and with the look that she's giving me I can tell that she's not buying it. "Ryan, I know you too well. So come on, sit down and talk to me." She sits down on the bench and pats the space next to her.

I sigh knowing I'll never win this arguement, and sit down next to her. Instead of looking at her I stare straight at the floor. She puts her fingers under my chin and forces me to look at her. "Come on sweetie. Tell me what's wrong." "It's me and Eric." Her hand drops back down to her side. She looks at me, worry clouding her eyes. "What do you mean? Is everything okay?" I draw in a shuddering breath, and my hands start shaking. Sarah gently takes my hands in hers and gives me a reassuring smile. "I saw Calleigh kiss Eric and then he told her how much he appreciates her, and how much she's helped him the past year and..." I can't keep going because tears are starting to roll down my face. In a small voice I say, "I think we might be over." I look over at Sarah and she has tears rolling down her face too. "Oh baby. Come here. " she whispers. She pulls on my arm and I lean against her clinging to her and her soothing voice as she rocks me back and forth. "We'll find a way to fix this. I promise." she whispers.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**I Appreciate You Chapter 2**  
Sara's soft voice wakes me up. "Ryan? Ryan?" I open my eyes and see her sitting on the edge of the couch by my hip. After my little breakdown in the locker room Sara waited for me while I gathered my things, we signed out, and then we went to my place. Well, our place. Eric and I bought this place two years ago. I sit up blinking my eyes a few times. "How long was I asleep?" She smiles at me and says, "A couple of hours. I asked my brothers to watch the kids so I could stay with you." I smile, grateful that she's willing to give up what little free time she has to spend it wih me. "I didn't want you to sleep through dinner." she says. "I'm not very hungry." I say with an apologetic smile. "That's okay. I wasn't going to make you anything anyway." She winks at me and then starts laughing. "You should have seen your face! Sweetie relax, I was only kidding!"

I rolled my eyes at her then grabbed her shoulders and pulled her down to tickle her as punishment for that very unfunny joke. Now I'm on top of her and she's laughing so hard she's crying. She screams out, "Okay, okay! I give up!" Her breathing goes back to normal and I let her up. As I'm leting her up, my eyes land on a picture of Eric kissing me at his birthday party. All of the days earlier events came rushing back to me. Calleigh KISSED Eric. Even though it was just on the cheek, his eyes were giving away what he was feeling. I get up from the couch and slowly walk over to the picture. I stared at it for a few minutes before I feel Sara's hand on my shoulder. "Come on darlin'. You might not realize it now, but you need to talk about what happened." I smile when she calls me darlin'. Her dad is an Irishman through and through. Even though she doesn't have the accent you can tell she's an Irish girl.

She wraps her arms around my waist and just waits for me to start talking. "When we finally admitted how we felt about each other, he would always look at me like I was the only person in the room. But when he looked at Calleigh like that, I didn't know what to do. It felt like he ripped my heart out and just walked away." Now there are tears streaming down my face again. Sara's arms tighten around me and I continue. "I just love him so much and I'm afraid that I'm going to loose him." Sara rests her chin on my shoulder and she says, "You know how much Eric loves you. He would never leave you for Cal or anyone else." I break away from her, wanting to be alone for awhile. "Ryan?" "I'm alright. I just want to be by myself." She smiles at me. "Okay sweetie. I'll be here if you need me." "Thanks." I turn and walk up the stairs to the bedroom. As I shut the door, I hear Eric come in and I freeze. Then I hear Sara's voice. "We need to talk Delko." Whoa. She only calls him Delko when she's really pissed off at him. This can not end well.

TBC

In the next chapter we get an insight into Sara's life and why she's so close to Eric and Ryan


	3. Chapter 3

**I Appreciate You Chapter 3**  
Alright. That's it. Now I'm extremely pissed off. Oh, I'm Sara Brady by the way. Well, Sara Brady-Speedle. Yep, that's right. Tim Speedle was my husband. And ever since he died Eric and I are closer than ever and it's the same way with me and Ryan. But now I feel like shooting Eric for hurting Ryan.

Ever since Ryan started working at the lab I've been protective of him. I wasn't too fond of him at first because I was still so angry at Tim for leaving us. When I worked Ryan's first case with him I saw how much potential he had, so I took him under my wing and taught him alot of what he knows. I know Tim would have done the same thing because Megan did it with him and he did it with me.

Anyways, back to my ranting. Eric Delko is a dead man! He's my best friend, my kids' godfather, and I love him to death, but after what he's done I don't know how he'll make it up to Ryan.

When Eric came through the door he looked shocked to see me standing in the middle of his living room. "Hey Sara. Where's Ryan?" "He's upstairs. We need to talk Delko." Eric took a step backwards, looking like I had just slapped him. "Is everything okay?" I resist the urge to roll my eyes and slap him for real.

Taking a deep breath I start to talk. "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you crazy or are you just plain stupid?" "Sara wh-" "Shut up!" I yell. Eric closes his mouth and stands there as still as a statue. "How dare you let Calleigh kiss you and then tell her how much you appreciate her!" Eric's eyes widen. "How do you know about that?" "Ryan told me. That's right. He saw and heard everything. He almost ran me over in the locker room after he saw what happened."

Eric swallows and looks at me. "Is Ryan okay?" That when I loose it. "Of course not! He was clinging to me when I finally managed to pry it out of him. Don't you get it? He's scared to death of loosing you! Do you have any idea how hard this past year has been for him?"

Suddenly Eric's eyes are filled with anger and he's yelling at me. "Hard on him? Was he the one who got shot? He didn't have everyone in the lab staring at him and just waiting for him to mess up! I'm sorry Ryan saw that and I'm sorry that he got hurt, but he needs to get over it!"

I put my hand up to my mouth in shock. "Go to hell." Eric and I both turn around to see Ryan standing at the foot of the stairs looking furious. "Ryan-" Eric starts to say but Ryan cuts him off. "You want me to just get over it? Get over you? Fine. We're over. I gasp as he says this last sentence. Ryan walks over to me and asks me if he can stay with me. I nod slowly and say, "Of course you can sweetie. Why don't you go out to the car and wait for me okay?" He nods as I hand him the keys. As soon as he's out the door I turn to face Eric again. "I'm sorry Eric, but I can't say I blame him." I turn again and walk out the door. Once it's closed I look and see Ryan wiping the tears from his eyes.

I pulled my cell phone out of my purse, and dialed. "Hello?" "Hey Marisol, it's Sara. Can you call Alexx and tell her the three of us need to talk?" "Sure. What's up?" "I'll tell you later, okay?" "Alright. I'll let you know what Alexx says." "Thanks." I hang up and put my phone back into my purse.

It is time for some drastic measures and time for Eric to get a serious reality check.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**I Appreciate You Chapter 4**

The drive back to Sara's was very quiet. I didn't want her to worry about me any more than she already did. That's why I waited until I was locked safely in the bathroom to start crying. I must have been in there longer than she would have liked because she started knocking on the door.

"Ryan? Hun are you okay in there?" I know if I answer her she'll be able to tell I'm crying so I stay quiet instead. The door knob slowly turns and Sara gently pushes the door open. She sighs when she sees me sitting on the edge of the bathtub trying to stop crying.

I expected her to tell me everything's going to be okay, but instead she walks over to her bed and picks up the phone. "Hey little brother. Could you guys keep the kids with you tonight? Ryan needs me." She listens and then smiles. "Thanks. I love you too." She hangs up and then she turns around to face me. She walks into the bathroom and sits on the floor.

"I called Marisol and told her to tell Alexx that we need to talk. We're going to beat some sense into Eric if it kills us." I look down at her and say, "I don't know if that's such a good idea. It's obvious he wanted me gone. And what are you going to do about Calleigh?" She sternly but softly says, "First of all, Eric loves you and the three of us are going to make sure he remembers that. Second of all, you leave Calleigh to me. Honestly, I don't think she has feelings for Eric. I think she was just trying to be a good friend. But I'm going to make sure that's all it is."

I smile softly at her and whisper, "Thank you. I really do love him and I want things to work out between us, but they can't while I feel like this." She gets on her knees and hugs me. "I know you do and they will."

She lets go of me and stays kneeling in front of me. "Ryan can I ask you something?" I nod and she continues. "It wasn't the kiss that's bothering you is it? It was Eric telling her how much he appreciates her isn't it?" I look at her and nod again. "Okay, let me ask you something else. Why?"

"Because she wasn't the one who was practically living at the hospital waiting for Eric to wake up. She wasn't the one who took care of him while he was recovering. She wasn't the one who held him after he had a nightmare and couldn't go back to sleep. And she wasn't the one who did everything for him, getting two hours of sleep and still going to work in the morning. So how come she does one nice thing for him and he can appreciate her, but after everything I've done for him he can't appreciate me?"

"Did you ever tell this to Eric?" I laugh humorlessly and say, "No. He'd just think I was complaining or being overprotective." Sara gets up and pulls me up with her. She kisses me on the cheek and says, "We're going to make your man see how much you really want him and care about him." I wrap my arm around her as we leave the bathroom and go downstairs.

"You're the best." I tell her. She shrugs and says, "I know." We both start laughing and I'm starting to feel better. But in the back of my mind I can't help wondering what she'll do to Eric.

TBC

Okay everyone. Here's where I'm stuck. Any suggestions?


	5. Chapter 5

**I Appreciate You Chapter 5**  
I'm on a mission. When I'm in "super-cop" mode (my brothers' little nickname for me) it's best to stay out of my way.

Ryan's been staying with me the past few days and he's getting more and more miserable every day that he's not with Eric. They've managed to be civil at work and I'm so grateful Horatio hasn't given them a case to work together. That might be because I asked him to. He looked curious, but didn't ask me what was going on. He probably already knows. After all, he's Horatio Caine.

Tonight's the night Marisol, Alexx and I are going to talk to Eric. When I told them what had happened... well let's just say they weren't too happy. Marisol is going to snap if she doesn't yell at someone soon, and Alexx is ready to wring Eric's neck. It took awhile but I convinced them to act like nothing's wrong.

Right now I'm on my way to find Calleigh and talk to her about what happened. I swear to God, if she's trying to get Eric for herself I'm going to... I just spotted her. She's in trace, with Ryan. Uh-oh. I can tell by the look on his face, he can't take much more. It looks like he could use a little help.

Show time.

I push open the door and say,"Hey Cal? I need you to do something for me." She smiles at me and says, "Sure."

"Okay. Wait for me in the break room."

She smiles at me and Ryan and heads towards the break room.

Ryan sighs, "Thanks. I don't know how much longer I could've held in all the things I wanted to say to her."

I wink at him and say, "No problem darlin'."

Once I'm in the break room with Calleigh, I decide to be blunt. "This is your fault."

Calleigh looks at me with a confused smile on her face. "What do you mean?"

"You didn't know Ryan and Eric broke up?"

Calleigh gasps, "What? Why?"

"Ryan saw you kiss Eric and he heard Eric tell you how much you've helped him the past year. You should have seen how upset Ryan was."

Calleigh slowly sits down on the couch. "Oh my God. Sara, I never meant anything by that kiss. I just wanted Eric to know I'm here for him." I sigh and nod. "That's what I thought."

Calleigh gets up and starts pacing. "How's Ryan doing?"

"He's been staying with me the past few days, and he seems to be hanging in there. At least that's what he's telling me.

All of a sudden Calleigh stops dead in her tracks. "We have to do something. Those two belong together!"

"Chill Cal. Marisol, Alexx, and I are going to talk to Eric tonight."

"Should I talk to Ryan?" she asks me.

I shook my head. "I don't think Ryan would be too keen on that idea."

"You're right." she agrees. "Do you think your plan will work?"

"I hope so." She smiles at me and we hug before she leaves the room.

Later That Night

"You idiot!" Marisol snarls as she, Alexx, and I back Eric into a corner. Alexx, who looks ready to punce says, "What is the matter with you?"

Eric swallows nervously. "Ladies? Could I please tell you my side of the story?"

Marisol scoffs, turns to me and says, "Can we keep Ryan and get rid of him?"

I look at her and say, Maybe we should hear what he has to say." Eric sighs and says, "Thank you."

"Don't thank us yet honey. You still have to convince the three of us why we shouldn't kill you." Alexx says.

Eric sat down and finally everything came rushing out. "I know I hurt Ryan and I'm so sorry about that. I just felt so suffocated with him always asking me if I'm okay or if I need anything. I love him, but I need a little room to breathe." Then he whispers, "I just want him to come back."

I looked at Mari and Alexx. I could tell he'd won over Alexx. I know he had me. But he didn't have Marisol.

She walked over to Eric and hit him on the head. "Now listen you idiot! You're going to have to do more than that to convince me. You broke his heart and now it's time for you to suck it up, and beg Ryan to take you back!" She pulled Alexx and I out the door and before she slammed it she yelled, "Do you understand!?"

We walked back to the car in silence. Once we were inside, we burst out laughing.

"Did you see the look on his face?" Marisol said.

"You girls were amazing!" Alexx said.

"What about you? You were fantastic!" I told her.

We started laughing again, harder this time.

I finally stopped laughing long enough to say, "What are we going to do if this doesn't work?"

"The two of you know how to hide dead bodies right? Marisol asked.

Alexx and I looked at one another. I hugged Mari and said, "That's my girl!"

We drove back to my place and we all agreed on one very important thing: if Eric didn't go crawling back to Ryan, we would kill him with our bare hands and they'd never find the body.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**I Appreciate You Chapter 6**  
Sara has been home for a few hours now and she still hasn't told me what went on with Eric. I'm guessing it can't be good because she slammed the door pretty hard when she got back.

I'm just about to sit down when I hear the doorbell ring. I got up to answer it and when I opened the door I froze. "Eric? What are you doing here?" Before he has a chance to answer, Sara is suddenly at my side.

"What do you want?" she asks him.

"I just wanted to talk to Ryan." he tells her.

She nodded, and as she turned to go upstairs she whispered, "Come and get me if you need me."

Once I hear her bedroom door close, I move over to the chair and sit down, and Eric turns to face me. "You said you wanted to talk. What are you waiting for?"

He sighs and suddenly he starts talking so fast, I have to stop him because I can't understand anything he's saying. "Whoa, Eric! Slow down! You need to calm down."

He looks over at me and I can see the pain in his eyes. He comes over and kneels down in front of me. "Ryan I'm so sorry for what I did to you. That kiss with Calleigh didn't mean anything. I love _you_ more than anything and I don't want to loose you." Now Eric has tears in his eyes and his face is buried in his hands as he starts crying.

Seeing him like this brakes my heart. I want to pull him into my arms and never let go. "Eric." He looks up at me with tears rolling down his face. I take his hand and pull him up. "I forgive you." I whisper.

Eric starts crying again, harder this time. Only now he's crying from relief. I bring him over to the couch and then I just hold him while he cries.

When he finally calms down I bring him up from his leaning position against me, and kiss him. I can feel him smile into the kiss and he leans back so we're laying on the couch with me on top of him. When we finally break apart to catch our breath he says the one thing that makes me remember why I fell in love with him.

"I really do apprecaite you Ryan."

I laugh then whisper, "Eric." I lean back down to kiss him. He starts to unbutton my shirt when we hear Sara clear her throat. Eric and I sit up and start laughing. I turned to see Sara blushing like crazy, and smiling while she fanned herself. "I guess you guys made up, huh?"

Eric takes my hand and we walk over to her. "Yeah, we did." I say.

"Well it looks like the two of you are eager to make up a little more, so why don't you go home and do that so I don't have to light my couch on fire." she says.

"Sounds good to me." Eric says.

I let go of Eric's hand and I go over to Sara and hug her. "Thank you."

She hugs me tighter and says, "You're welcome."

Eric and I hardly made it to our bedroom without tearing each other's clothes off. Eric made love to me for over two hours. We both finally collapsed, breathing heavily. Eric's holding me in his arms when I ask him, "So how hard did the girls hit you?"

He chuckled and said, "Hard enough."

We both laugh at that before we fall asleep in each other's arms.

TBC

As always, read and review!


	7. Epilogue

**I Appreciate You Epilogue**

"Hurry up Cal!" I yell as we get up to Eric and Ryan's front door.

"Sara are you sure they're even home?" she asks me.

"Even if they aren't we'll just leave the cake on the counter."

With my free hand I open the door and Calleigh and I go in. We had bought a cake to celebrate Ryan and Eric getting back together.

I'm about to call out to see if anyone's home when I hear a moan coming from upstairs and Ryan's voice shouting, "Eric!"

I quickly sit the cake on the counter, and Calleigh and I run out of the house. We collapse outside the door laughing so hard it hurts to breathe. We straighten up and I link my arm with Cal's as we walk back to the car.

I sigh and say, "And they all lived happily ever after."

The End

Sorry it's so short. Please let me know what you thought of the story. I promise there WILL be more, I just don't know when!


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